Guide to Asian greens

Use our guide and recipes to get the most out of these healthy, leafy greens

The farmers’ market table is buried in shades of green. Questions ― “What’s that?” “How do you cook it?” ― punctuate conversation as customers spot unfamiliar, leafy Asian greens, called choy in Chinese. In California, many come from the San Joaquin Valley, where Hmong immigrants from Laos settled after the Vietnam War. These farmers, struggling to grow the vegetables of their homeland, have created a bonanza for those in the know, a mystery for the uninitiated.

The most familiar of the greens, such as bok choy, are now sold in supermarkets, but farmers' markets and Asian groceries offer a wonderful range.